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Boost
Pushes Mobile Social Networking
October 23, 2006
By Brian Morrissey
 |
| Boost hopes to draw more
mobile social networkers with the lure of a
customized Charger. |
 | | NEW YORK The social networking craze is
coming to cell phones.
Boost
Mobile is hoping to increase membership in its fledgling cell
phone-based social network, called Hookt, with a customized
car contest directed at teens and young adults.
The
mobile operator has teamed with West Coast Customs, a car
customization chain that's developed the MTV series Pimp My
Ride. Registrants for the social networking service, which
costs 50 cents a day, will be entered into a sweepstakes to
win a customized Dodge Charger from West Coast Customs.
Hookt's existing 300,000 customers
will also be given an opportunity to enter the contest via an
ad that will run on the mobile network's welcome screen. It
will promote the contest via radio spots and online ads in
places like MySpace.
Social
networks appear poised to make the leap from the computer to
the cell phone. MySpace has a deal with Helio to offer users
access to the social network from Helio's service. Hookt,
which Boost introduced a year ago, lets users create a profile
and join groups to find others with similar interests.
Fred Ghahramani, director of airG ,
the Vancouver-based operator of the Hookt network, said the
move of social networking applications from the computer to
the cell phone is inevitable because of the ubiquity of mobile
telecommunications. It could also cast a wider net: nearly 60
percent of members of airG -operated mobile networking
communities do not have computers.
Advertising would likely continue to complement,
not replace, subscription fees for mobile social networks,
Ghahramani said, since carriers would use their popularity to
lure users into paying for more data services.
"Consumers right now are conditioned
to paying on their phones," he said. "On the mobile platform,
the telcos won't give things away for free. There needs to be
an instant revenue accrual on these services."
Ghahramani said airG has found
click-through rates for targeted promotions to reach 5-6
percent. Deep user data, like age, location, likes and
dislikes, provides rich targeting opportunities, he claims.
"You're exposing yourself to
hundreds of thousands of people that match your demographic,"
Ghahramani said.
The Boost
Mobile-West Coast Customs campaign, which launched last week,
runs through Jan. 15, 2007.
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